


Crescendo To Hell

by DaughterOfElmStreet



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Cthulhu Mythos, Cult of Cthulhu, Dark Past, Drama & Romance, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Sex, F/M, Filling In Plot Holes With Dumb Stuff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Horror, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Interdimential Freakiness Ahead, Love Confessions, Lovecraft Mythology, Lovecraftian, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Most likely sex will get smutty just fair warning, No one cares about the Aliens in South Park, Plot Driven, References to a lot of other stuff, Supernatural Elements, Underage Drinking, more to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-07 16:12:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17369153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfElmStreet/pseuds/DaughterOfElmStreet
Summary: ON HIATUS SORRY GUYS THE FIRE WILL COME BACK BARE WITH ME- Mysterion/Kenny has never had to worry about anyone remembering his deaths, until now. With love blossoming and darkness brewing, Kenny’s true origins are about to be revealed, and the results might be deadly for everyone.





	1. Our Secret - January Of 6th Grade Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my first fic on here! (Excitement!) This is a fairly new ship I’ve gotten on board with while playing the two South Park video games (Stick Of Truth and Fractured But Whole) so I hope you like it! 
> 
> Yes, there will be cute yaoi romance in this story. But it will not be the only plot point.
> 
> Yes, there will be sex in this story. But it will not be the main focus. 
> 
> Yes, there will be OC’s in this fic so if that bothers you please kindly find a different one to read.
> 
> Also I’m still learning how to do the formatting so if it comes out clunky sometimes I apologize in advance.
> 
> So let’s get started, first chapter! In this chapter the boys are in 6th grade so they’re roughly 11-12 years old now. They’ll be bumped up to 16-17 in chapter 2. 
> 
> SPOILERS NOTE: I make reference to the plot of the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm in this chapter, so be aware if you’re a fan!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two friends share a secret now...and even more to come.

_“Everyone keeps telling me that your okay but you aren’t I know u aren’t you got fucking shot! - 1:36am”_

_“Ur body fucking vanished dude. Everyone keeps saying that u just had to get home after those thugs were subdued but just tell me your okay? - 1:50am”_

_“Did I imagine it? Am I fucking crazy? - 2:03am”_

_“Please oh fucking please just tell me I’m crazy. - 2:04am”_

_“I cant be crazy there’s fucking blood on my costume still. I held you...  
U were dead in my fucking arms Kenny. - 2:33am.”_

_“Please if I’m crazy just tell me so. I’d rather be ducking out of my mind than anything happen to you. - 3:30am”_

After reading the texts, the first of three voicemails in between all the phone calls, 20 of them to be exact, was played. 

“Mysterion! Kenny! If you’re okay and able to respond to this please do so ASAP I’m freaking the fuck out right now.” The newest member of Coon and Friends was practically screaming into his phone, obviously sobbing as well, at 1:30am.

“This isn’t right. You...you can’t have faked that could you...? Man if you did, could you please teach me how you because your a fuckin’ wizard. It...it looked like you got shot in the chest back there. I know I sound crazy. I’m sorry just please call or text me when you get this.” At 2:15am, he sounded more scared. Like he genuinely was contemplating whether or not he’d lost his goddamn mind.

“I’m so fucking confused. I saw it happen...I saw you die Kenny. I know it was you...your eyes were so afraid and all the blood...everyone else just seemed to ignore it. I want to believe what everyone is telling me but I can’t. I just can’t. Please just tell me you’re okay...please.” New Kid’s voice was wavering so much as the voicemail from 3:11am ended that you could practically feel him trembling on the other end of the line.

Kenny McCormick stared at the electronic until well after the screen had gone black. Waking up after the agony of death was one thing, but waking up to someone else knowing about it was another. No one had ever remembered his deaths, not even his closest friends who’d often been first hand witnesses to many of the boy’s demises. All the pain, fear, and sadness that came with the final moments of life had been his alone to feel after each and every time.

 _Yet New Kid remembers...but how?_

He laid in his old lumpy and stained bed for what felt like hours trying to wrap his head around the fact that someone else knew that he died just six hours ago and was now alive. It had been happening for years and he’d come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t do anything about his curse. No one would ever be able to help him anyway since they’d never believe him due to the convenient mind wipe that all present in his final moments experienced.

If he were a cat, how many lives would he have lost by now? Kenny shook off the thought for fear it awakened his old urge to cheese. _Only a dead men would be so desperate to feel something he’d let a cat piss in his eyes._ He sat up and rubbed his face. He wasn’t going to get answers sitting around here. Only New Kid could give them to him.

Kenny got up and pulled on his bright orange parka as he’d done every morning for what felt like eons. His parents were already awake and bickering, as usual. This morning it was over who’d let all the ice melt in the beer cooler when the last time they’d scraped together enough money to get ice for the cooler had been well over a month ago. _Ice melts dumbasses._ But it was pointless to ever try and explain something like that to either of them, let alone while they were at each other’s throats. 

Grabbing his backpack, he made for the front door quickly. Karen was waiting for him, hot pink backpack all ready to go, and immediately gripped Kenny’s hand as they excited their ramshackle home. Kevin was basically living at his new girlfriend’s house now. Lucky him. There was no point in saying goodbye to their parents, they’d only yell or throw something at them, or both. 

_She doesn’t need any more of that._ Kenny thought protectively as they trudged through the fresh sheet of snow that had fallen last night. His thoughts were still racing with scenarios as to what the fuck actually happened last night with New Kid, but he found a bit of calm in walking with his sister in the frosty morning air. She always managed to keep him grounded in reality, even when his very existence blurred what reality was supposed to be.

“I dreamt about Mysterion again last night,” Karen told him as they stepped over the icy train tracks carefully. “He was in our house and was fighting rats that were trying to eat us!” 

“Were they the regular rats or the big ones?”

“Uh...” She pursed her lips trying to remember. “Both maybe? I don’t remember,”

He laughed softly and ruffled her dirty blond hair. He was glad that Karen had something to believe in with their bleak home life and how much she was bullied at school. Not as bad as before though, thanks to Mysterion. He sometimes wondered what she’d think if she knew that her “guardian angel” was just her brother in purple spandex and old bed sheets from Stan’s sister. Maybe he’d tell her...one day.

“Do you think Mysterion would ever come see me just to play with me?” She asked as they approached the Broflovski house. 

“Maybe,” He answered simply. “He seems like he’s a busy guy between stopping bullies and battling rats of every size.” 

She giggled. “I wish you could meet him too...he’s so cool!” 

He smile at her as he rang the doorbell and were promptly greeted by Sheila. Despite her loud personality she was a kind woman to Kenny and his sister. Shit, she’d fed them more then their own mother. They often came over early before school for a shower and a hot meal. Kenny mowed the lawn in the summer and helped run small errands in town as often as he could to try and show the gratitude they were owed. 

He scooted Karen into the warm threshold of the house where she immediately ran upstairs to Ike’s room. They were a year a part in school but got along well. He’d heard Kyle’s dad talking about how well Ike was doing in school and how they were talking with the school about skipping him up a grade. Karen deserved to have a friend in her class.

Cold dread seeped through Kenny as he suddenly imagined what it would be like if Karen knew about his...condition. Had he ever died in front of her? Had he made his sister miserable even if only for a few moments that he had abandoned her with their pitiful excuse for parents? He was all she really had, and he knew it. She wouldn’t know what to do without him. 

_No...she’s safe, she doesn’t know. Keep it together...for fuck’s sake!_ He snarled at himself, shoulders tensing and shutting his eyes for a few moments to shake the thought away.

“Aren’t you gonna come in, Kenny? Awfully cold out there,” Sheila asked, concern in her gaze, while place a hand on his shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

“I’ve got something to do before school, at another friend’s house. I just brought Karen here,” He sputtered out awkwardly, still trying to regain control of himself. “I mean - if that’s oka-”

The red head raised a hand to cut him off. “Of course! She’s always welcome here, just like you! You better hurry on now, then. Now you better not be skipping school or something though, or no maple syrup on your pancakes for a month! And I will find out if you are!”

He promised her he’d be in class on time before she shooed him off the doorstep with a warm smile and a wave goodbye. Kenny’s face hardened against the cold as he set his eyes down the road to where he needed to be; New Kid’s house, it was time to figure this shit out. He was almost to the fence that divided Stan and Kyle’s yards when he heard a familiar voice call out:

“Hey Kenny! Where you going man?” Kyle called from his bedroom window on the second story. “I need to tell you something. After you left - New Kid like just, lost it...”

He bit back cussing at his friend. He really didn’t need someone stating the obvious slowing him down. 

“I know, I’m gonna go talk some sense into him!” Kenny called back in as friendly a tone as he could manage. 

Kyle asked to be kept posted and after the window was closed, Kenny hurried on down the road until he reached the red house at the end of the block where New Kid and his mom lived. He rang the doorbell three times before the sound of footsteps could faintly be heard on the other side.

Kelly opened the door. “Oh Kenny! Good morning! It’s really sort of...a blessing you’re here,” She allowed me to step in. She took the threadbare scarf he’d been wearing from me but he kept his orange parka. “You see, he had an awful nightmare last night and he’s very shook up by it. I think you were in it...” She glanced up the stairs, brow furrowed with worry. “Would you mind going to talk to him?”

“Yeah of course, we have to talk anyway...we’re partners on a school project,” Kenny lied gently to the confused mother. She’d always tried her best for her son, even when her marriage had fallen a part and the government had tried to take New Kid away. 

After he’d satisfied Kelly with details of a non existent project, he marched up the stairs as calmly as he could manage. Kenny’s heart was pounding in his ears and his stomach felt like a lead weight. He’d known all morning that he had to come talk to him face to face, but now that he was here...he had no idea what to say. 

_Just do it you pussy! You owe it to him after putting him through that shit._ He swallowed back his doubts and anxiety and opened his friend’s bedroom door without knocking. 

New Kid was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with red puffy eyes and a tear stained face. Kleenex cluttered his bedside table and he looked nearly as pale as the disposable tissues. Slowly, his eyes turned to Kenny as he shut the door slowly, locking it just to ensure some privacy. 

Kenny was taking in a breath to say something when New Kid leapt to his feet and stared at him, unblinking and breathing hard. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes and he collapsed to the floor, curling up by the foot of the bed. He buried his face in his knees, black hair forming a veil around him as he quietly sobbed. 

Kenny slowly, moved toward him. Dropping to the carpet to be on the same level as his friend, he unzipped his parka and draped it over New Kid’s trembling shoulders. After what seemed like years, the other boy finally lifted his head and glared at Kenny with a mixture of anger and sadness in his glossy dark eyes.

He started and stopped a few times, getting choked up again and again. Kenny spied a bottle of water on the nightstand and brought it over to him. New Kid took a small sip and took in a few deep breaths before finally mustering the strength to speak. 

“Wha...what the fuck?” 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, okay?” Kenny hadn’t realized how close he’d been to crying till it happened. He bit his lip and tried to hold back the wail he could feel in his chest.

New Kid stopped trembling a bit and straightened up, gaze intent now. “So it was real, wasn’t it?” He demanded in a shaky but direct tone. 

Kenny sighed and looked away. “Yeah...it was...” Before he could protest, New Kid was lifting up Kenny’s shirt of examining his chest with keen interest. “Uh excuse me, what the fuck?” Kenny pulled away, feeling a little violated. 

New Kid met his eyes with no fear. “You were shot...it went right through the left side...where your heart is! How the fuck did you - how is it possible you’re here?” He dropped his face into his hands and inhaled deeply before sighing. He looked back at Kenny, desperate for any sort of answers. 

Did Kenny really have any for him? 

“Look, all you need to know is that I’m okay. No wound, no blood, nothing,” He tried to explain in a nonchalant manner. “It’s okay.” 

“IT IS NOT FUCKING OKAY!” New Kid snarled, tears spilling from his eyes again. “You fucking...you fucking DIED! How in the holy hell is that “okay”? Please fucking tell me!” 

Almost by reflex after comforting Karen so many nights after their parents abuse towards them, Kenny wrapped his arms around New Kid, pulling him halfway into his lap and cradling him. His friend cried more, so he just did what felt natural and rocked him slightly while they sat on the floor together as the pale January dawn grew brighter outside. 

Kenny felt like a monster. He’d fucking traumatized one of his best friends with the carelessness he’d developed having apparent immortality. He always took risks when they were out fighting crime. He could took a hit, to say the least and up till now there hadn’t been a problem if he’d gotten killed. Hell, if he’d gotten hurt bad he’d usually do himself in just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the injuries slowing him down. It hadn’t been that big a deal...until now.

“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry,” He whispered in the other boy’s ear, stroking his black hair absent-mindedly. “I wouldn’t have...I wouldn’t have done that if I’d known you could - could remember...”

His words seemed to spark interest in New Kid, as he shift and looked up into his eyes.

“Why don’t they remember?” He asked, voice full of pain like a kicked puppy. “It was like...they were freaked out at first and then they just...stopped caring. They just moved on and started beating up those crooked loan sharks who were trying to get Skeeter’s bar from him and - and...I was holding you. I thought they’d go for help or something but they were all just doing other shit all around me,” He paused as a shiver made his thin frame tremble. Kenny gently tightened his grip around him to try and steady his body. It worked well enough, and New Kid continued: “Then Craig was calling the police using one of their cell phones after they’d tied them to the lamp posts in the back lot, but he didn’t ask for paramedics and I yelled at him about it. I was still holding you...your eyes were open and you...I hoped maybe that it was just shock or some shit and it wasn’t too late. Craig asked me what the fuck I was talking about and that no one was hurt badly. I laid you on the asphalt and ran up to him and I - I almost started choking him. Tweek punched me in the gut and then Kyle grabbed me and everyone was like “the fuck’s wrong with you” and I pointed at where you were laying and...you were gone. No blood. Nothing. I asked where you were and Cartman said you’d had to leave because your dad had gotten picked up for wandering around drunk or something...and I flipped out and started screaming and Stan actually fucking picked me up and carried me away before the cops got there...” He laughed weakly as he recounted the events. “I was kicking and screaming like a toddler. I guess you got all the messages I left, huh?” 

Kenny nodded. “Yeah. I did. Only after I woke up this morning,” He paused and thought about how he should go about explaining this. He’d briefly gone through a phase of trying to get people to remember his deaths, but after he learned about his status as a Netherborn it seemed pointless as it was beyond mortals to comprehend. “You see, no one’s ever remembered when...that happens to me. It just, happens to me, and I wake up in my bed the next morning and I’m not hurt or anything. And everyone who might have been there doesn’t have any memory of it, they usually all have this weird group delusion that I had to leave or that I did something else.” 

Kenny looked at New Kid again, who was staring out into space trying to take it all in. During this natural pause, both boys realized that they’d suddenly become very intimately close to one another during their emotional confrontation and gently shifted away from each other. Their shoulders still touched though, and Kenny never took his eyes off him the whole time. He noticed that New Kid was flushed in the face, partially from all the crying of course but...maybe from the awkward cuddle...or whatever it was too?

Kenny touched his own cheek and felt warmth. They were undoubtedly pink at least somewhat.

_I just traumatized him and he’s making me blush? What the fuck’s wrong with me..._

“You’re really alive...right now?” New Kid asked slowly, testing the words as though the concept was alien. 

Kenny nodded. 

“But you died, last night. And that’s why,” He reached under his bed and pulled out his alter ego outfit. Its color scheme was mixture of gray and black, but there was a darkened circle on the front and several odd splotches up top. “There’s blood on this, but nobody but me remembers?”

Kenny tried to smile at him to lightened the mood. “Yeah, that’s about it,” 

New Kid was going to say something, but a sharp knock at the door made both of them jump. The dark haired boy quickly stuffed his costume but under some rubble under the bed.

“Yeah, Mom?” He called. 

“It’s seven o’clock boys. If you want a ride then you need to be ready in thirty minutes. It’s too late for the bus,” Kelly’s muffled voice explained through the door. 

New Kid agreed and promised we’d be ready in time and started shifting through a dresser for something to wear. 

“I’m gonna grab a quick shower, or do you wanna go first?” He muttered busily as he picked out a long sleeved shirt. 

“No, no you go ahead I’ll just steal some of your deodorant,” Kenny answered. He stood up and picked his crumpled parka up off the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.

New Kid busied himself getting clothes together and shoving stuff for school into his backpack. After he’d heard Kelly go back down the stairs, he stopped and slowly walked over to the blond boy and sat next to him on the bed. He looked at him with a forlorn expression.

“So...I guess I need to just act like nothing happened too right? Otherwise I’ll just be called crazy by everyone...” He looked down at the floor, deflated. 

Kenny sighed. “Yeah...that’s probably the best course of action here, I know it sucks, trust me,” 

They locked eyes again. New Kid didn’t look as hurt now though. 

“I’m glad you’re...still here.” He said softly. “You just, get some of the stuff that’s happened to me better than anyone here. All the stuff with the government after me...and then it all being about some fucking aliens that shoved a dildo up my ass when I was nine...and they just expected me to forget about it and move on?” He laughed at himself a little.

“You’re still Buttlord to me!” Kenny chimed in.

The other boy gave him a playful shove. “I guess...I always felt like you understood. Like you knew what it was like to go through something no one else has. I figured it was about your parents before, not that they aren’t total pieces of shit! Uh, sorry...” He looked away, seemingly embarrassed. “But now I think I, uh, get why I got that vibe now...”

The blond nodded. “Yeah, it’s some fucked up shit alright,” He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “I know that you must have a shit ton more questions...and I want to tell you but, we gotta go to school, so-“

“Yeah, don’t worry I know...just gotta put on a brave face, right?” New Kid stood up again. 

“Yeah,” Kenny agreed, laying back on the mattress. “We can’t have New Kid going all cuckoo claiming he sees people die, now can we?”

“It’s Sam.” 

He sat up again, confused for a moment. “What?”

“My name is Sam you know, I’ve lived here for like two years now, I think we can move past me being “the new kid”!” He chuckled and tossed Kenny a stick of deodorant. 

“Oh, oh right. Sorry. You were so quiet when you first moved here we just kinda...stuck with it?” Kenny smiled at Sam as he lifted his shirt to put on the deodorant, and thought for a moment, he could have sworn he saw him blushing again. Maybe it was just a trick of the light. 

“Being selectively mute is often a symptom of trauma, especially after the government tries to confiscate you like a goddamn stick of gum when you’re five.” Sam retorted with a sly smile.

He started for the shower, clothes in hand, and had unlocked the door before he turned back around to Kenny. His face looked serious again.

“Hey...just so I know that like, I’m not crazy, can you do something for me?” He asked softly, eyes widening with every word.

Kenny cross over to him. He looked like he was about to start shaking again, so he placed both hands around his shoulders once more. “Of course. This is our secret and I want to make this as little of a burden as possible on you...”

“Okay,” Sam breathed, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking at the taller boy again, almost as if he was afraid to. “Can you do something that will prove to me that you’re like, really here?”

Kenny’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Uh yeah, what do you want me to do?”

Sam bit his lip and put his clothes down on the nearest dresser and turned back to his friend after taking in a deep breath. 

“Remember when we made that guilty-pleasure-pact with Butters about Life is Strange so that like, we wouldn’t get teased about it but still have some people to talk to about it?”

“Yeah, of course!” Kenny responded, shifting awkwardly. What the hell did that have to do with anything? Sure it was good to know all three of them could talk about their shameful enjoyment of the escapades of teenage girls with time travel powers. “That’s all we fucking talked about in the group chat over the summer was Before the Storm. Why?”

Sam swallowed hard. “Remember when...Rachel uh, asked Chloe what she wanted to prove that...she was serious about running away together?” 

Kenny’s heart jumped into his throat as it clicked in his head what Sam was asking him for.

“Oh,” He breathed softly before moving closer to his friend again. Slowly though, he didn’t want to scare him any more than he already had. 

“I’ve never like, had a kiss before so like...” He shrugged, obviously trying to hide how big a deal this was for him.

“Really? Never?” Kenny asked in disbelief. Sam was great at making friends and after two years, he was almost certain that he’d done it with some girl or guy by now. 

“Yeah...it just never felt right and I didn’t want it to be with just someone who thought I was cool but didn’t really...get me. You do.” 

Touched by the other boy’s words, Kenny loosely put his hands on Sam’s hips and positioned him closer. The shorter boy’s eyes were as wide as embers in a fire as Kenny tenderly pushed his choppy bangs from in front of his face. 

“You sure you want this...?” Kenny whispered as he began to lean in, almost tasting the anxiety of the other boy coming off him. “I am you know, technically dead. Like quite a few times over.”

His friend blinked. “Yeah...I’m sure I just want...this...please. So I know you aren’t just going to disappear again...”

“Never.” 

Kenny gingerly presses his lips to Sam’s. He could feel a jolt like lightning shoot through his friend, and his own body was ablaze with sensations as well. He pulled him closer and kissed a little harder, and Sam meet him with equal force, running his fingers through his scrappy blond hair with one hand and pressing the other against his chest...right over where he’d been shot just hours ago. Kenny’s mind was swimming with newfound fascination with his friend’s body and he thought briefly about maneuvering his tongue into the situation, but then thought better of it and pulled away, gently cupping Sam’s cheek with his hand and running his thumb over his soft lower lip. 

Both of them were flushed bright red now.

“Uh...thanks, that was uh...”

“Nice.”

“Yes, very nice. Fuck I need to shower.” 

Sam left the room quickly, leaving Kenny alone with his thoughts. He sat on the old toy chest by the window and reviewed all that had happened in his mind.

Sam, formerly New Kid, had the ability to remember when he died, and as such now knew that he was immortal. He was completely traumatized by watching him die and probably would be haunted by that the rest of his life. What great friend he was. 

_I can’t be so reckless anymore. I have to be careful._

He watched as the sun peaked over the roof top and was shining on the snow in the adjacent yards. Up till now, his life, or lives, had belonged to him alone. No one else. It didn’t matter if he stayed alive or not because no one would ever know. If he died, it was his knowledge alone, and he’d given up on grieving for himself long ago.

His life was no longer just his, it belonged at least in part to Sam too. He had to stay alive, live like he only had one life to his name. 

_I’m not just living for me, but for him too._


	2. Old Habits - April of Sophmore Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mysterion and his partner have a mission to do, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all the feedback on this first chapter! This chapter, as it states in the title, is set in the South Park boys’ sophmore year of high school so they’re all roughly 16-17 years old now. We get our first mention of one of the other ships in this chapter, albeit only briefly at the start with Stan and Wendy. As the story progresses I may make a separate one-shot series about the dynamic between some of the other relationships that will be established throughout since you obviously Kenny and Sam will be the main focus here. Not that the others won’t get their moments too, but the one-shots would be more in-depth and show a different perspective of the goings on. Let me know in the comments if you guys might be interested in that! 
> 
> Sam’s alter ego is a reference to the titular character from the graphic novel and film “The Crow”, which is awesome and I highly recommend checking it out! 
> 
> One last thing before we begin; the music being played in the car is a playlist of Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson and the concert Sam mentions is from the “Twins of Evil: The Second Coming” tour, which I was lucky enough to get to see myself last summer. I feel like Kenny and Sam would be fans. The songs I imagined playing were “Demon Speeding” and “Get Your Boots On! That’s The End Of Rock N’ Roll” by Rob Zombie and “mOBSCENE” by Marilyn Manson. So if you’d like to play them while reading this chapter, I highly recommend it to enhance the experience :)

Sam couldn’t help but feel a kind of childish excitement as he strode down the sidewalk, gym bag on his shoulder. He wasn’t just an angsty teenager tonight, he was a vigilante out to defend justice and kick some ass. Not to mention he was going out with his best friend as well.

 _Take this seriously!_ He told himself as he crossed the old train tracks. _There could be trouble tonight!_ But fuck he couldn’t help it, he had a grin on his face as he approached the McCormick house. 

It was a Saturday night and things were quieting down around South Park. But crime never sleeps, as Mysterion would say, and there was a lead that Coon and Pals (a compromised name for South Park’s local crime fighters after Timmy Burch moved in 7th grade and Freedom Pals was disbanded) had to follow up on. There were major money shortages in almost every store in the South Park Mall and if it continued, the whole place could go under and nearly 500 residents of their town would be out of a job. 

Token, or Shadow Player as he was now know since he outgrew his Tubberware suit in fifth grade so they re-workshopped his alter ego, worked at the Tweek Bro’s coffee branch and had been able to listen in to mall security talking with the police. They believed it was an inside job with many different people involved but no one was coming forward to rat out their coworkers.

That was all they had to go on, and Mysterion had volunteered for the mission, so naturally “The Grackle” volunteered to go with him. Originally Toolshed was supposed to go with them, but he’d claimed his old dog was sick. When Sam had been walking by his house, old Sparky and the younger canine Heston were barking up a storm as they saw a familiar face go by, and oddly neither sounded ill. Stan’s car was also absent from the driveway and he’d bet good money that Wendy wasn’t at home tonight either. Sam didn’t mind honestly, he and Kenny worked best when they were alone together anyhow. 

His partner was laying on the hood of his car staring up at the night sky; his blond hair, orange hoodie, and pale skin contrasted with the dark navy paint in a ethereal way. Hearing Sam shifting through the aluminum cans and other trash that cluttered the front yard, Kenny sat up and dangling his feet off in front of the fender with a familiar smile spreading across his face. 

“You’re late!” He said in a playful tone. 

“Mall just now closed,” Sam countered. “It would be boring if we could just walk in to investigate and not break in like real superheroes.”

Kenny chuckled as he hopped off the hood and walked around to open the trunk for Sam’s bag. “Yeah I guess so. No Stan?”

“Hell no, he’s out with Wendy somewhere,”

The blond raised his eyebrows. “Guess she needed to get screwed pretty badly...”

“Don’t be a dick,” Sam shoved him with a shoulder as he shut the trunk. “Besides, Tweek and Craig are on standby to come help us if stuff gets hairy. And Token and Matt are on patrol fairly close by.”

Kenny huffed. “Like we need help!”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Of course, cocky muscle car man...”

It still was amazing to him how fucking lucky Kenny was to find a vintage 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo abandoned in junkyard beside his house. It had taken him the entire year before he even got his license to get it up and running, often using the equipment and services of the body shop he worked part time instead of a paycheck. But now that it was done, Sam was envious as hell. 

At least I get to ride in it. He thought as he fought with his seatbelt that was tightening up. 

“Kenny your car is being a bitch!” He was saying as the seatbelt finally loosened. 

“Good, I trained this bitch myself,” He turned the keys in the ignition and the engine came alive along with the high-beam headlights Kenny always had on. The blond rested his chin on the steering wheel and shut his eyes while he revved the engine twice, slowly. “Awe yeah...like a kitten’s purr...” He breathed cooly before shifting gears and tearing out onto the road with a roar.

 _Showoff._ Sam thought as his body was pulled with the motion. With the setlist from the concert they’d send in Denver last August booming, the two blazed through the darkening suburbs with adolescent vim, running stop signs where they knew no cameras were and downing Red Bull like fiends. They were going on a mission for the greater good though, so they were allowed to have a little fun. 

Kenny took the back route the the mall via the old Stark’s Pond Drive. It was a crumbly strip of asphalt that wound through the woodlands that surrounded the small lake, but it led to directly behind the loading dock to Macy’s, and that was their destination. The plan was simple: slip in and keep watch till 5am and see if anything of interest happened. They had five different lookout points to hit for at least an hour at the five stores that were losing the most money. The shortages were happening about once every two weeks at each location, so at least one of them had to be hit tonight.

Sam was enjoying the ride for now though, before he had to be hyper focused on the mission. He leaned his face out of the rolled down windows and relished the feeling of the cool night air as it whipped his long dark locks and numbed the surface of his skin. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Kenny asked, glancing over at him with an amused expression. 

“Your bitch may be growing on me,” Sam cooed before taking another swig of his energy drink. 

“Well don’t go getting a hardon for her, she’s mine!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it...”

They made good time and were at the end of the old road by 11:04pm. Just beyond a thin stretch of woods was the loading dock. After parking behind the dead end sign, the two of them went about suiting up. Kenny went to change just outside while Sam applied his makeup. He always felt a wave of emotion he couldn’t quite describe as he became his alter ego. The Grackle was the persona he’d adopted after the government finally discovered that his “power” had just been a recurring alien sexual assault issue in the region and a system error on Facebook claiming he had a billion friends when he was five. He could no longer live up to the title “Buttlord” so he opted for a new identity. He’d wanted to claim the an incarnation of “The Crow” like the Brandon Lee movie, but Cartman demanded that no one was allowed to copy pre-existing heroes, so he’d simply chosen another blackbird. 

Once his face was stark white and his eyelids and lips were black he got out of the passenger seat and put on his costume from the gym bag he’d brought. It was pretty simple: black jeans with a utility belt, leather jacket that buttoned up to his sternum, black gloves, and of course wild loose hair. He put on the choker necklace lined with real feathers he’d collected and secured all his arsenal in their pouches on his belt. 

He looked around for Mysterion, where was he? He waited a few minutes before he went over to behind the thicket he’d headed for previously. 

Mysterion was there. Dark purple cape with the hood up with matching gloves, lavender body suit, and a spiked combat boots that had made many a criminal bleed. All of their costumes had changed as they matured, so the undies and silly straw question mark were gone. He now donned a pair home dyed purple girls short shorts and his black mask was painted with a bright green question mark.

But something was wrong. 

Mysterion was staring at something as though entranced. The Grackle came to stand beside him carefully, purposefully making noise on the forest floor so that he wouldn’t get kicked in the stomach if he surprised his partner. It had happened before. 

“Mysterion...” He said in his adjusted hero-tone. “What’s wrong?”

Grackle looked at what had caught his eye; a large carving in the half cut down base of what was once a large oak tree. It was impressive and detailed, and the almost full moonlight illuminated it eerily. It was some sort of octopus or squid face but with human-like eyes speckled with carved facial curves and blemishes. It was disgusting, but fascinating looking all at once. Suddenly, Mysterion turned with a swoop of his cape like a gust of wind.

“Let’s go,” He said in his signature deep smoky voice.

Confused, The Grackle followed wordlessly. They reached the back of the mall and used a fire ladder to get to the roof, from there they used a spare key that Shadow Player had swiped to get in. Once inside, they set about carefully blocking out or disability security cameras as they worked their way down the main level of the mall. They split up once they made it to the brick hallway that wrapped all the way around the building and connected to each and every store. The Grackle was in charge of setting up two of the five locations, JC Penny’s and a jewelry store. He used the door codes Shadow Player had provided and got into each with ease. He placed small home security sensors on the floor around the money safe and activated them with his phone.

He made his way to the Forever 21 where Mysterion was waiting. They settled into a corner of an employee office room in the back, right across the hall from the room where the money was kept, and began to wait. Mysterion was quiet, even for him, but he also seemed distant, which was unusual since they usually talked quietly together when they were alone on missions like this. It was like he was deep in thought, but didn’t want to be and was fighting it in his head, and his frustration was coming off of him in waves and his face was tight with it. 

An hour passed, so they moved on to watch the JC Penny’s. Nothing happened there, so by 2am they were at the jewelry store. They were in much closer quarters here, shoulder to shoulder under a desk where they could watch the door and move easily enough to watch what went on. Grackle could really feel and see how tense and pensive his partner was beside him.

It had been going on for hours now, something had to give! 

“Hey,” He whispered. Mysterion shifted his gaze to him. “What’s up with you?” 

“I’m bottled up under a desk with a Brandon Lee impersonator, you?” Grackle was glad to see a ghost of a smile appear on his face.

“Same, only my partner looks like Raven and Batman’s love child!” He responded. Mysterion seemed to chuckle a bit at that but he was beginning to look away again. Not the desired effect. 

Grackle took a deep breath. It was time to be more direct. “I meant - look, are you okay?” His friend didn’t turn towards him, but his shoulder twitched. “Do you know something about that carving...?” 

Mysterion sharply turned back to him, blue eyes blazing with some sort of knowledge Grackle didn’t have. It was intense and frightening. 

“It just reminded me of something to do with...my condition...” He said after a few moments, shifting away again. 

Grackle nodded. “I’m sorry I won’t talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable or...”

The other vigilante gave an amused smile. “Nothing’s as uncomfortable as dying, don’t worry you’re fine, Grackle!”

Grackle smiled back. Mysterion hadn’t had an episode of his “condition” in five years, after he had discovered it by chance during a full team operation. They’d made up a lie to the rest of the team that The Grackle had been given shrooms during his civilian hours as part of a dare and then gotten them mixed up an energy tablet on his belt he’d taken before the mission. He’d been teased about it for years but the memory seemed to be fading now. They all had better things on their minds now as teenagers.

“It’s the cult symbol,” Mysterion blurt out suddenly, like he’d been holding it back. “The ones I think my condition traces back too...I haven’t seen anything of them since the incident with the, monster, that none of them remember now. It...” His voice wavered. “...scared me.” 

Grackle put his hand on his shoulder and pressed a bit closer to the other. Mysterion welcomed the closeness and draped his cape around his partner. 

“It’s okay to be scared,” The dark haired hero whispered, pressing his cheek to his friend’s gently. “Hell I still get scared thinking about...you know, our secret,”

“I’m sorry I cause you worry...” His breathe touched Grackle’s neck as he spoke and his heart began to beat much louder than before. “It’s just-“ 

Suddenly Grackle’s phone lit up and vibrated; the Macy’s sensors around the safe room had been triggered. 

“Damnit. Of course it’s the one furthest away!” Mysterion growled as they both dashed back to the connecting hallway and sprinted to door that lead into the managerial offices. 

They moved silently along the the carpeted floors toward a thin sliver of light from one room that had been entered. The door had been propped open to avoid setting off an alarm most likely, but it made it easy for The Grackle and Mysterion to slip through. Keeping to the darkest corner and crouching beside a shelf, they saw what they’d been waiting for all night.

A man and woman were in the room, the woman was fumbling with a key ring to unlock a padlock on the door of the money counting office where all the precious days earnings were kept.

“Hurry up,” The man grunted. He was wearing a beige trench coat and smoke with a thick Eastern European accent. “Time is money.”

“Okay, okay...hold on!” The woman pleaded, hands shaking as she kept trying keys. 

Grackle pulled out a small high range camera from his belt and zoomed in on the woman’s face. He needed the man to turn around though.

“I’ve got it, just be ready to take the shot...” Mysterion whispered before slinking away, seemingly having read his mind.

Grackle watched as the caped hero scaled a tall industrial shelf silently and pulled a lighter from his belt. He waved it under a smoke alarm, and soon a loud beeping rang out through the room.

“The fuck!” The man hissed, turning around. As he took the shot, Grackle’s blood turned cold as he saw that the thug had a gun. The gunman grabbed the woman’s collar hard, causing her to collapse to her knees. “Did you rat me out you bitch?!?”

 _Fuck!_

“The only rat here is you,” Mysterion’s voice boomed even above the alarm. “Think you’re a gunslinger with your peashooter?” 

“Who the fuck are you?” The man hissed, letting go of the woman and scanning around. 

Mysterion glanced over at Grackle, and they formulated a plan within seconds without talking. Grackle picked up a nearby stray coat hanger and tossed it across the room. It landed with a clatter and the thug fired his weapon twice, leaving holes in the thin dry wall. 

Using the noise to his advantage, Mysterion leapt down and came up behind him to wrap an arm around his throat and twist his gun free hand back. Grackle sprang up and rushed forward, he slid across the floor from the struggle between the others and kicked the gun out of the thug’s hand, followed by a swift kick in the balls. 

“You...piece of shit...” The thug panted as he fell to the floor. 

Mysterion pressed his boot against the back of his neck and smiled at his partner. “Good thing that jacket’s thick, you would have gotten one hell of a rug-burn otherwise.” He observed.

“I try not to fight crime shirtless.” The Grackle retorted while catching his breathe.

The purple draped hero nodded and then motioned to the woman, who was still pressed against the wall, trembling. Grackle pulled out some handcuffs and proceeded to cuff her to the padlocked door.

“You must stay here and tell the authorities who this bastard is and why he’s been forcing you to do this...” He told the woman as gently as he could, squatting down to be at eye level with her. “They’ll keep you safe after you tell, don’t worry. It’s obvious you didn’t have much choice in the matter,” He motioned to the gun lying on the floor. “We’ve done our part to set this right, now you must do yours, do you understand?”

The woman slowly nodded and slunk back down against the white door of the money office. The Grackle stood and tossed another pair of cuffs to Mysterion, who lifted the thug’s arm to be attached to one of the shelves, only to suddenly cry out and fall backwards. He’d been stabbed with a switchblade his captive had been concealing.

The criminal wasted no time and grabbed his pistol and made a break for the door. The Grackle rushed to his partner and helped him back to his feet while his suit arm was quickly become wet with blood.

“Damn him,” Mysterion hissed in pain. “He’s not gonna get away!”

With that he pulled away before Grackle could protest and began chasing the thug. They erupted into the clothing selling floor and found the assailant struggling to break through the glass on the entrance door. Mysterion and Grackle split into two sides of the store’s floor to double team him. The caped hero got there just a second or two before his parter and was winding up a sucker punch when he was grabbed by his shoulders and tossed through the glass like a human battering ram. 

Mysterion fell against the white tiled floor as glass clattered and blood poured from countless cuts and gashes. The thug leapt through the new opening and raised his weapon, poised to fire. 

“NO!” The Grackle screeched and tackled him before the trigger was pulled, causing a shot to be fired into the tiled ceiling. 

With a sharp kick in the center of his back from the enraged Grackle, the thug fell through the next glass door himself and finally passing out from hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk. The leather clad vigilante helplessly pulled his friend into his arms and began to try and pull him back inside, but Mysterion grabbed his hand and coughed up blood as he spoke.

“No...you have to leave!” He weakly told him, eyes spilling tears of agony. 

“I’m not leaving you here to get arrested!” Grackle snapped harshly, voice trembling and head spinning while the unmistakable wail of police sirens approached. “I’ll stay here if you can’t be moved!”

“Sam...listen...” Mysterion whispered as he slumped his head against his dearest friend’s pounding heart. “I can - you know I can...just go all the way and be back in the morning-“

“I AM NOT LETTING YOU DIE!” 

“You don’t have a fucking choice!” Mysterion snarled. “If I don’t do this then I’ll be in the hospital under arrest and you’ll be in jail and the whole team will be exposed and fucked!” He flinched and whimpered in pain, his adrenaline spent. “I’ll be...okay,” He reached into his belt and pressed his car keys into Sam’s palm. “Take the car back to my house...go in my room and sleep, I’ll - fuck - I’ll be there when you wake up, okay?”

Sam’s black shaded lips quivered as he stared into his friend’s blue eyes, desperate and full of pain...just like they’d been that night all those years ago. He squeezed him tight in his arms and buried his face against his bloody chest, trying desperately not to sob like a child. 

“Sam...please...do this-“ 

“What if it doesn’t work!” Sam choked out. “It’s been fucking - fucking fives years!” Mysterion pushed off his hood, revealing his soft blond hair was also soaked with blood. His head had cracked when he hit the floor. “It’s my fault I was too slow, I didn’t get there in time and that fucker did this to you! I can’t...I can’t...” Sam’s tears fell down onto Kenny’s masked face, mixing with his own and stray droplets of blood before running down his cheek. “If you don’t come back I - I can’t live with myself!” 

“I will. I promise...”

“But-“ 

Kenny used what strength he had left in him to raise himself and kissed Sam hard, looping his hands around his neck and moaning softly in what was probably pain rather than passion. Sam was stunned for a moment but then returned the action frantically. What if this was their final moments together? He constricted the blond in his arms as hard as he could, breathing his sweaty bloody smell and wished selfishly that he could keep Kenny this close forever. But the sirens were growing louder...and lights were shining at the fire side of the parking lot. 

Kenny broke away. “You have to go,” He breathed, eyes glossy with emotion. He looked over to the dropped gun and ice ran down Sam’s spine as he realized what his plan was. “I’ll be back in the morning I swear, you know I’d never leave you! Never...” 

Sam nodded weakly as he lowered him to the floor and stood up trembling, unable to peel his eyes away. Kenny looked stared back and mustered a weak smile. 

“Go,” He said again.

Sam turned and ran back through the department store, using ever inch of his will power not to look back. He was about to kick open the door of the loading dock when the shot was fired, ringing out like a sonic boom. Sam’s resolve faltered and he fell to the floor and let out a miserable wail; Kenny was dead. 

He pushed himself up again as fast as his heart would let him and ran on, panting and grunting like an angered bull.

_You have to get back to his house...gotta be there when he wakes up..._

Stumbling through the loading depot and through the woods, he swooped into the driver’s seat of the muscle car and screamed in pure rage as he ran though the dead end sign and sped away.

As Sam drove his mind was numb with grief...only the vague promise Kenny made him kept him from swerving off the road and wrecking.

_He’d never leave me... never..._

Repeating that to himself in his head and under his breath was the only comfort Sam had as he rushed through the night to where his friend would supposedly be resurrected at dawn.


	3. Heaven Upside Down Part 1 - April of Sophmore Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam’s faith in Kenny’s immortality is tested, but it may just be the tip of the iceberg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your continuing kind comments and support! This is where the story’s rising action starts so pay attention to the tags so you won’t get too freaked out. The comes from the Marilyn Manson song “Heaven Upside Down” from the album of the same name. Listen to it if you’d like! I ended up splitting this into two parts because I wanted to spend equal time with Sam and Kenny during this pivotal moment in the story. Then I’ll resume alternating chapters (so that means two Sam chapters in a row counting this one). Alright, let’s do this!

By the time Sam got to the McCormick house, he felt like a walking corpse...which was a shamefully morbid thought given the situation. It was half past 3am when he fumbled inside through Kenny’s unlocked window. The house was quiet, save for the creaking of the roof and walls as the wind gently murmured outside. The other residents were either asleep or working the night shift so his presence would likely remain undetected. Not that they’d care much given how often he was over. He’d parked the car shittily at the back of the house, but he didn’t have the energy to care. Any concentration power he had left was devoted towards waiting for Kenny. 

He had to come back. He had to.

Sam forced his limbs to keep moving and stripped off his Grackle outfit, tossing it into the half broken closet. He was still a vigilante and couldn’t risk being caught, even by Kenny’s family. It occurred to him only after he was in nothing but his briefs that he’d left his civilian clothes in the goddamn gym bag which was in the trunk of the car. No way he was risking the nearby homeless people seeing him in his underwear. He’d have to find something else.

His heart twisted with pain as he looked through his friend’s drawers for something to wear. They smelled like him...he could almost see him in them right before his eyes...

“Fuck, please Kenny, don’t be long.” Sam whispered to himself as he pulled out a shirt and sweats.

 _I don’t know how long I can stand this..._

He went to the small bathroom next door and realized how hellishly smeared his makeup was; the white was mostly okay but all the black eyeshadow and lipstick had run off in smudgy streams down his face. He started scrubbing his face with whatever soap was on the counter and the frigidly cold tap water. Ten minutes later black lipstick persisted on the corners of his mouth and some of the white under his chin. It was good enough though. 

To either his relief or disappointment, there was no sign of Kenny when re-entered the room. Just the covers pushed off to one side on the bed from where he awoke yesterday. 

_Is this like the goddamn tooth fairy, I have to be asleep for him to come back?_

Sam noticed how raggedy his breathing was as he climbed onto the worn mattress and curled up, hugging his knees like a child. He laid on the side nearest the wall where he usually slept when he stayed the night. Kenny liked the far side because he could always get up quickly if something was happening in the house. Sam felt selfish for thinking about how tired he was, but fuck he felt like he could sleep for days. His mind drifted back the day he’d helped Kenny get this mattress into the house. It was an old one of Broflovski’s from the guest room they’d put out on the curb after switching to memory foam, but Kenny had taken it off their hands instead of the garbage truck. He’d called it a “fucking treasure for white trash such as myself”.

He, Kenny, Eric, Kyle, Stan, and Butters had burned the old lumpy twin Kenny had slept on all his childhood in the McCormick’s backyard. He had been so happy, laughing and tossing half full beer bottles into the blaze to make it roar. His blue eyes had been so bright in the opposing red glare and they still seemed to shining when Sam woke up with an awful hangover the next morning beside him. 

Somehow, the exhausted boy’s body still was hydrated enough to make a couple of tears. He knew there was nothing he could do but wait. But the fuck did this immortality shit work? 

Would he just suddenly pop out of thin air? 

Get shot down in a beam of light from the great beyond? 

Crawl out from a huge rift cracked in the earth from the pits of hell? 

He wished to hell he’d been given some idea of what to expect, but he knew that Kenny had never watched himself rematerialize after death. Every few moments he glanced over at the empty side of the bed. Despite Sam’s tiredness, he could almost make out the outline of where his friend would be lying: softly snoring, his side rising and falling rhythmically, blond hair sprawled out on the pillow. Subconsciously, he licked his lips and imaged the feeling of Kenny’s lips against his...but then nearly recoiled in heartache thinking of their desperate embrace as Kenny lay dying. It had been so desperate and full of emotion; Sam didn’t know whether it was the other boy’s desire for him to get away safely or the pain of his injuries and knowing that it could have been his only chance to say goodbye...

 _No, fuck thinking like that. He’s coming back._ Sam had to believe he was coming back, he had too...because he genuinely didn’t know what he’d do without Kenny. Sure he has other friends both in and outside Coon and Pals but none of them were as close with him as the blond. Craig and Tweek were a close second, but he always felt like a third wheel if he hung out with them alone. Kenny always made him feel like he was his sole focus when they were together, whether it was in a group or alone. Ever since that night when Sam had seen him die...Kenny had been by his side. He’d had his first beer with him, went to his first concert...had his first kiss...

A familiar anxiety twitched inside him. One that he’d tried his best to poignantly ignore for years. 

...did he like Kenny?

Kenny had dated girls and Sam found girls attractive but had never found one he felt strongly enough about to peruse but...there was a closeness between them that Sam didn’t feel with anyone else in the world. He’d felt it when he was only 11 and they’d shared a kiss to prove that Kenny really was there, alive. He still thought of that kiss often...and was now having conflicted thoughts about the one they’d shared a few hours ago. 

Sam wasn’t stupid. Kenny had obviously just done it to reassure him that he’d be able to come back after dying because that’s what Sam had asked of him last time. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out. But he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done it for another reason, one Sam wasn’t ready to admit to even considering. 

Hell, he couldn’t believe he was having any coherent thoughts at all. His imaginary outline of Kenny looked even clearer than before like one of those dreams that begins when you’re fighting sleep...and it only seemed to get brighter.

Wait, was he hallucinating? 

Sam sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was still there. He could see the outline of Kenny’s profile sunken against the pillow, his jaw, nose, mouth...only it was transparent like the shitty holograms at haunted houses. 

“Shit.” Sam said to himself, moving back slightly. 

This was it. This was Kenny’s resurrection, or at least part of it. He was reforming from nowhere right before Sam’s eyes.

“Kenny...?” Sam whispered. 

No response. 

“Guess you aren’t all the way back yet huh?” He said to the apparition.

He crossed his legs and stared at it as it slowly became more and more full. Kenny was wearing his usual sleeping attire, some patterned sweatpants and a black sleeveless shirt. He looked...normal, except for being partially see through of course. 

After a few minutes, his form clearer, Sam let his curiosity get the better of him and cautiously picked up the rumpled quilt and dropped it over him. To his surprise, it landed on him normally as though he were fully formed. 

He swallowed hard before attempting to speak to him again: “Kenny...” He reached to touch his face, fingertips trembling. “Hey, it’s me-“ 

As soon as his skin touched Kenny’s, Sam’s whole body spasmed wildly and a sharp, cringing scream filled his head. He would have thought he’d passed out, but his eyes were still open as he fell from the world he knew and when his head finally cleared, found himself suspended in nothingness.

Like literally. There was fucking nothing. 

Just black, but it wasn’t dark, or not completely, because he could see himself when he looked down. There was air apparently because he was breathing. He stood up and discovered the nothingness beneath him was firm. He walked forward, but there was nothing to head towards. Emptiness echoed in all directions.

“Kenny!” Sam called out into the ether. 

No answer came back, but something of actual form began to appear in front of him. It was silvery white and looked like snow, but it was forming...what looked like stairs leading upwards. Sam tentatively stepped on it, it felt like stone or some kind of rock. 

He ascended them. He had no where else to go. When he got to the top everything was level again, but he could see way in the distance...something. Not like the light at the end of the tunnel or anything, a place though. 

The stairs were gone, so Sam moved toward it. As he approached, murmurs of voices began echoing all around him. Was someone else here too? 

_Wherever the fuck here is..._

The emptiness became dark red and dark gray colored all around him, lumpy, sharp and non-uniform like somewhere underground. The voices grew louder. One sounded masculine and the other feminine. Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye paler crimson shapes moving around the space as well, but they were formless so it was difficult to call them anything. Seeing something that scares you is one thing, but seeing something that you have no way to fathom what it even is was a terror Sam had never imagined. 

He needed to keep moving towards the voices, at least knew what those were. 

_Am I dead? Is this a dream? Did I get...brought here?_

As he reached the center of the scene, his heart stopped when he saw who one of the voices belonged to.

“-and I don’t want to know you or him or any of your voodoo bullshit so get the fuck out of my way bitch!” Kenny was snarling. He looked pissed, to say the least. 

Sam wanted to call out to him, but when he saw what Kenny was talking to, all the words dissipated before they met the air. 

It looked like a woman, at least partially. But some red, fleshy, inhuman growth sprouted from her shoulders and split into wings and tendrils that all encircled the space. Her human body was deathly pale and she wore long white hair that spilled all around her. She sat on what looked like some sort of throne made from the silvery stone his staircase had been. Her eyes were so sharp and cold that Sam felt goosebumps from just glancing at them indirectly. Her mouth was thin outline of pale pink, but her teeth were sharp like knives and thin like thorns.

She smiled at Kenny in a way that made Sam genuinely feel like he was about to vomit.

“You’re so sure yet so lost. You remember your power but deny your true potential.” Her voice shifting from mature to childlike between phrases, cutting in and out. “Why have you hidden from us for so long, young one?” 

“I’ve got nothing more to say to you!” Kenny responded coldly curling his lip like an angry cat.

“Predictably rash,” The woman clicked her black tongue against her razor teeth, causing blood to ooze from her mouth. “If you’d only preserved your own memory you could have gotten past me ages ago, but no...” Her face contorted and she began to scream. “YOU WOEFULLY MISUSE YOUR ABILITIES AGAIN AND AGAIN!”

“They’re _my_ powers, I choose how I use them!”

“Of course, erasing your memory was an impressive feat for an untrained brethren such as yourself,” Sam watched breathlessly as some of the demoness’s tendrils sprouted up and coiled around Kenny’s legs before he could even react. “But wasted on something so futile. You’re only delaying the inevitable.” She grinned as Kenny struggled helplessly in her grasp and she lifted him off the ground. “Let me help you remember...”

With that, the tentacles slipped through Kenny’s clothes and skin like it was water and he screamed and contorted as a red sphere of energy engulfed him. The woman looked on with amusement while she violated him in a way Sam had never thought possible. 

Suddenly, bright violet flames of pure energy dispelled the red tentacles and made the woman fall back against her throne with an audible thud. The fireball landed on the floor and dissipated as quickly as they had appeared.

Kenny stood in it’s place, looking more tall and confident than Sam had ever seen him. 

“I’ll be leaving now.” He said simply.

“Oh will you?” The woman said with raised eyebrows. “Are you going to erase the knowledge of your power yet again? Live in ignorance among mortals?”

“What do you want with the human world anyway? You could build something here!” Kenny asked, gesturing to the malleable void around them. 

She laughed deeply. “Of course we could, we could build and destroy a new utopia ten times over during just one of your days on earth.” She leaned closer to him. “But that’s awfully boring, don’t you think? Most of our other kin are content to float through obscurity and only be given the chance to use their abilities when summoned. They lack the conviction that we have! Species like humans are few and far between, they are a treat to rule over. Their minds are so complex yet so simple. It’s rare to find one that sets aside its own desires to do anything for the benefit of the species. And they’ll go so far to achieve their own goals it’s hard not to want to watch them at play!” She paused and looked thoughtfully at Kenny, who held her icy gaze. “We’d never turn you away, if you’d like to join us.” 

“Fuck you!” He replied cooly. “And tell him to cancel his plans, I’ll have no part of it and I’ll never let any of you back into my home again.”

The she-demon laughed again. “Will you now? I’ll pass your threat along.” 

“Good. I’m not letting you turn the entire human race into your puppet show that you pull the strings on and throw away when you get bored!” Kenny hissed scornfully. “You made a mistake-“

But Kenny was cut off by Sam’s own scream as one of the woman’s tendrils wrapped around his legs and pulled him down toward where the two immortals were talking. Sam hit the fleshy appendage as hard as he could but it did no good. Three others were soon upon him as he heard the woman squeal in delight:

“Well now! What have we here? It isn’t often I have visitors. Who are you...?”

Sam struggled helpless as her tendrils sank through his skin like butter melting into bread. His spine shifted wildly and his brain was bombarded with images of everything that it had within it. Memories, favorite foods, kinks, anything and everything he’d ever thought. It was being fondled and viewed like a painting in a gallery while his body was stretched and squeezed like play-dough. It was like every cell in his body was getting stabbed with individual needles injected a malicious disgust that was tearing him a part, body and soul. All he could see was blazing red and all he could hear was the hellish wail that had first brought him here. He actually prayed he’d die of the agony. 

Then the wail was cut off. After a struggle of splotches and flickers, the red was replaced by bright, warm purple. He felt it rip the tendrils from his body and full the space they left behind with a protective, familiar presence. His mind was returned to him and his body solidified again as he floated in pure bliss in the violet bubble. 

It was Kenny. 

Sam could feel him in every particle of his being. Like when he wrapped his cloak around him as Mysterion, he enveloped him in a closeness they only shared with each other. 

He decided he’d be okay if he died completely embraced in his dearest friend’s aura.

But as his body became his again, he began to hear the arguing again. 

“Found yourself a mate, Moroslu?”

“I’ll fucking destroy you if you ever touch or get anywhere near him again!”

“He is a fascinating little creature, I see the appeal.”

“Move. Let us leave.”

“Fine. But this is far from over.”

“Whatever, cunt.”

With a final hiss from the she-demon, the world shook and shattered all over again and Sam found himself laying in Kenny’s bed again, the ceiling spinning silently above him. He couldn’t move or make noise, or even hear noise for that matter. His eyes flickered to a blurry image of someone beside him. After what felt like an eternity, his hearing cleared.

“Sam...” The voice was distorted at first. “Sam, oh fuck. Stay awake. Stay with me.” 

The room stopped spinning and his eyes focused on Kenny, who was holding his head in his lap and tapping his face gently trying to get him to come to. His blue eyes were watering over.

“Sam, if you can hear me,” He thrusted his other hand into Sam’s left. “Squeeze my hand.” 

Sam squeezed slowly. Moving his body again felt alien somehow, like he hadn’t done it in years. The next thing he knew Kenny was putting a water bottle to his lips and telling him to drink. He let the liquid wash over his mouth and he swallowed automatically. The action seemed to reactivate his whole body and he sat up with a sudden bolt of awareness shooting down his spine. 

“...Sam...” 

Sam turned and looked at the blond, and before he knew it his arms were wrapped around his and his nose was brushing against the nape of his neck. He breathed in his scent while Kenny ran his fingers through his messy long hair and pressed his chin against one shoulder. 

They stayed like that for nearly ten minutes before Sam pulled away and laid collapsed back on the bed.

“Was that real?” He asked barely above a whisper.

The blond nodded. “Are you okay?” He asked softly. 

“No. Are you?”

“No. Not really.” The blond admitted. “Let me get you something cold to drink.” 

He stood up to leave but Sam clasped his wrist before he could go. The concern and affection that he could see in Kenny’s eyes as he stared down at him reminded him of that blissful moment when he’d completely surrounded and inhabited him. 

“I need to know...what that was.”

“I know, but you need to recover, I don’t know how you even fucking fell into that dimension!” Kenny explained gently, moving his hand over his heart. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

He laid Sam’s hand back on the bed, but before he could leave the bedroom, Sam managed to ask one of his many questions.

“Kenny who was that...woman?” He asked. 

The blond turned and looked at him gravely. He looked away while he answered, as though he was ashamed.

“My sister...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wew Lovecraftian plot devices established! Hope you enjoy weird monsters that bend reality, because that’s gonna be a regular thing on here. 
> 
> I know we’ve been left with a lot of questions: Who is Kenny’s other “sister”? Why did Sam fall into the dimension? And what about that kiss last chapter? The plot thickens! 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of the new interdimentional stuff and how the powers with Kenny and the she-demon came out! 
> 
> Part 2 coming at you soon.


End file.
